JMS on CompuServe (Apr 12, 1997) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

[bbarrett at speedlink.com]

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 [ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
    Sb: #662088-jms Note to German Fans
    Sb: #662103-Timeline question
    Sb: #662118-Timeline question
    Sb: #ICON Postscript


 [ Summary: "In any case, Congratulations!  You've Re-Invented B5 
   Protestants!" ]

 #: 662148 S5/Babylon 5: General
    12-Apr-97  01:33:16
Sb: #662088-jms Note to German Fans
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      ....sigh...just what I need.

      Okay, somebody get me a fistful of theses, I'll get a nail....

                                                                    jms



 #: 662103 S5/Babylon 5: General
    11-Apr-97  16:20:01
Sb: #662097-#Timeline question
Fm: JONATHAN KASS

Message text written by J. Michael Straczynski
> It isn't that the cat had two alternate timelines, only that there were two
possibilities fighting it out to become the real one.<

PMFJI,

nicely put, with one possible exception - I think with the cat, the point of
the concept is that you don't know which outcome is final because you can't see
inside the box (I'm no expert on this)...

The question raised diverges from the cat example because we saw inside the box
in B2 and again in WWE1, thereby creating alternate timelines as opposed to
different possible outcomes (unless the time flashes are merely halucinations
induced by the weird space <g> (or even worse, they work that way for the same
reason the dreaming works <G>)

Just a thought...

Jonathan

(and no, I personally have never heard a better explanation for the basic time
travel paradox that seems to creep into all time travel stories (in this case
its the whole gray council /  minbari culture established by Valen, setup by a
person who actually experiences that culture in his own life before
establishing it, as compared to say Somewhere In Time, where its the pocket
watch thats never manufactured), so I'm not criticizing - you wrote it , you
get to make up the rules is always my belief on time travel! )


 #: 662149 S5/Babylon 5: General
    12-Apr-97  01:33:18
Sb: #662103-Timeline question
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Well, I figure...we saw it from the cat's point of view....

                                                                    jms



 #: 662118 S5/Babylon 5: General
    11-Apr-97  20:54:31
Sb: #662097-#Timeline question
Fm: SCOTT BELGARDE

Joe,

     Speaking of Schroedinger's Cat, ever read any Rudy Rucker?  He wrote a
short story with titled "Schroedinger's Cat" originally in Analog Science
Fiction/Science Fact magazine and later released in his collection of short
stories entitled "The 57th Franz Kafka".   It dealt with multiple
probabilities/possibilities, and in an off-beat, often humorous manner.  His
stories are thought-provoking and laugh-out-loud funny.  If you haven't read it
(and the rest  of the stories in the book), I highly recommend it.--perhaps
after you've finished treating and tormenting us with B5...

-Scott


 #: 662150 S5/Babylon 5: General
    12-Apr-97  01:33:20
Sb: #662118-Timeline question
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Personally, I think they ought to leave the damn cat alone before he
scratches somebody's eyes out....

                                                                    jms


 #: 662151 S5/Babylon 5: General
    12-Apr-97  01:33:22
Sb: #ICON Postscript
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      By the way...since I got the end of the story today in the paper, I
thought I'd pass this along as a follow-up to the Icon coverage.

      On Sunday late afternoon, I finished my last presentation and got into
the car to head back to the hotel to pack.  Robert Kaiser, escort and driver
assigned by the con, was driving the van and can verify what follows.  We were
about halfway to the hotel, on the freeway, when I heard this very loud engine
right outside, like a big, loud motorcycle trying to pass.  I looked to the
left, nothing.  Looked to the right and behind.  Nothing.

      Then I looked forward...and saw two airplane wheels coming down over the
edge of the window.

      In any international language you can name, this is the symbol for You
Are Now In Serious Guano.

      A private plane was literally about five feet above the van.

      And coming down.  Fast.

      It got a little ahead of us, because it was still moving fast, and it was
obviously looking to try and put down on the freeway.  Something was wrong.  It
was about three or so car lengths ahead now, but there wasn't room to put down,
too many cars.  It suddenly lurched down.  "It's going to hit the deck right in
front of us," I realized.  Then it abruptly pitched up again, as a bridge
appeared in front of us, and banked away to the right.

      The last I saw, it was banking and descending behind a line of trees,
apparently looking for somewhere, anywhere to set down before the plane gave
out.

      I didn't want to say anything until I knew the fate of whoever was flying
it; happily, according to newspaper reports, the three passengers of the plane
were injured when it crashed into the side of a nearby house, but not killed.
They were taken to the nearby Medical Center at Stony Brook, there in Long
Island, and are now recovering.

      Took us a while to calm down.  After all the other adventures of the
convention...they threw a plane at us.  And almost got us...within five feet,
to be precise.  Had it gone down just roughly ninety seconds before it did, I
would almost certainly not be here to write this.

                                                                    jms



[END]

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